Democrats prepare new Iraq agenda

MOURNING: Iraqis carry caskets Saturday for the funeral of six Iraqi soldiers killed in a suicide bomb attack the previous day in Tal Afar. MOHAMMED IBRAHIM, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON - Democrats sought this week to put their new political power to use in shaping the debate over Iraq, promising stepped-up congressional oversight of the war and a resolution demanding a schedule for reducing the number of troops there.

After two days in which both sides pledged bipartisanship in the aftermath of the Democratic victory in the midterm elections, leaders of the new Democratic majority began asserting themselves, seeking to give Congress a greater role in both foreign and domestic policy after years in which, in their view, President Bush was granted too much latitude.

After meeting with Bush at the White House, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the incoming Senate majority leader, said "the first order of business" when Democrats formally take over in January will be to reinvigorate congressional scrutiny of the executive branch, with a focus on Iraq.

"Let's find out what's going on with the war in Iraq, the different large federal agencies that we have," Reid said. "There simply has been no oversight in recent years."

The willingness of Democrats to begin confronting Bush and his party over Iraq suggested that the early promises of cooperation across the aisle will be tested quickly by deep differences over policy and political imperatives on both sides.

With the White House having expressed a readiness to consider new ideas on Iraq, Democrats also said they are drawing up plans to keep the pressure on Bush to alter his approach to the war.

In doing so, they are trying to put new markers down in a growing debate over Iraq policy that already includes the Iraq Study Group, a commission that is preparing to make recommendations next month. Senior military officers have also ordered a broad review of strategy in Iraq and have enlisted a team of innovative officers to conduct it. Though Democrats will not take power until January, the incoming chairmen of the committees with jurisdiction over national security said in interviews that they are hoping to persuade Republicans to respond to their losses at the polls by backing resolutions that call on Bush to change course.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who is in line to become chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Congress must be the agent "to make it clear to the Iraqis that we cannot save them from themselves."

Levin has for several months advocated linking the presence of U.S. troops to political progress in Iraq, a stance that Pentagon officials previously dismissed as reckless but is now gaining wider, even bipartisan, support. While there is no language yet for such a resolution, he indicated that it could describe the requirements for continued U.S. military commitment to Iraq, and some specified number of months for its duration.

"At the end of this time period, we would begin the reduction of American forces," Levin said. "I think such a resolution would have tremendous power on the president. It would not just represent a bipartisan majority of Congress, and its urgent recommendation. It would be a reflection of the people's voice as expressed" at the polls.

Even before Election Day, Democrats were trying to focus attention both on management of the war and potential fraud and abuse by contractors. Jim Manley, an aide to Reid, said new oversight by the Democratic majority in the Senate would most likely continue those lines of inquiry.

Trying to tamp down concerns about a potential blizzard of subpoenas that some Republicans had warned of should Democrats control Congress, Reid dismissed that idea and his aide said he was just trying to restore Congress' traditional role.

"There will be times, on rare occasions, when subpoenas will have to be offered, but rarely," he said. "If Congress does its job and does congressional oversight, as has been done for more than 200 years, it's good for everyone."

While Democrats made criticism of the war a central element of their successful midterm election campaign, translating that into policy once they take charge on Capitol Hill is more problematic. The president, as commander-in-chief, directs the military and Democrats have consistently said they would not take steps such as cutting off money for operations in Iraq.

But Democrats can use other tools to advance their ideas on the war, though they will also have to find some consensus among the current Democratic members of the House and Senate and those elected on Tuesday.

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